Sirk's first feature in the USA, apart from the 1942 Hitler's
Madman, was made four years after he was invited there by Warners. Summer
Storm is an adaptation of Chekhov's only novel, The Shooting Party. Sirk
moves the story much closer to the Russian Revolution and keeps the original
flashback construction. In a delicate evocation of a crumbling world, he
highlights the social tensions and despair of Zsarist Russia - with some
excellent performances by Everett Horton, Darnell and Sanders.

A dark, brooding drama based on Chekhov's "The Shooting Party,"
this marked the first time the Russian's work had been adapted for the screen.
Made for less than $400,000, it's a flashback to 1912, in pre-revolutionary
Russia (where star Sanders was born). Darnell is a grasping peasant who is
determined to rise above her station. She uses her smoldering beauty and her
feminine wiles to entice middle-aged farmer Haas to marry her. Her main reason
is to flee her stern father. Haas knows full well he can't handle Darnell, so he
looks the other way as she embarks on a series of affairs. Sanders is a judge
engaged to Lee. While vamping him, Darnell is also courting rich Horton, who
plies her with jewels, gowns, and frippery.

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The
Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio

English (Dolby Digital 2.0)

Subtitles

None

Features

Release Information:Studio: VCI Entertainment

Aspect Ratio:Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• Trailer
• Audio interview with author Bernard Dick

DVD Release Date: October 20th, 2009Keep Case
Chapters: 12

Comments:

The transfer is another VCI interlaced
job with plenty of visible 'combing' in horizontal pans (see last
capture). It's single-layered and appears to be from an analog source.
Detail is weak but overall this is watchable - primarily though on a CRT.

Audio is as
weak as the contrast and there are no subtitles offered. Extras include
a trailer and a 20-minute, audio-only, interview with author Bernard F.
Dick (Columbia
Pictures: Portrait of a Studio) hosted by Joel Blumberg. The
writer talks about the director mentioning past Sirk efforts and his
reasons behind appreciation of Summer Storm - comparing it to an
early version of Fatal Attraction and attempting to find a link
to Film Noir.

The film
doesn't show a lot of the director's brilliance and should only to be
considered by Sirk, and possibly Darnell, fans/completists.